(Swans - March 13, 2006)
Every country is controlled by an elite whose interests
usually are not merely different but often inimical to the general
public of the country. Support from the public is imperative if the
elite's interests are to be pursued and satisfied. While those interests
are constantly at variance with those of the public, they must never
allow the public to wise up and gain the upper hand by revolting against
their betters. Therefore, influence is exerted primarily on
government -- those millions in campaign contributions can do wonders;
but also on the media -- the barons of the mass media are
high-powered members of the elite; and on educational
institutions -- whose myths extolling national achievements and
triumphs will instill loyalty in the masses.

The real motivations of the elite cannot be disclosed to the public,
heaven forbid, so a scenario is concocted that when
implemented will permit those interests to be pursued while gaining
acceptance of a naive public. The government will spin that yarn; the
media will publicize and extol it as will the educational establishment.

So intent is the elite on promoting their interests that they will
sacrifice without a second's thought millions in casualties from a
designated enemy and from the home forces as well. The only thing to
snarl their plans are fears that the suckers doing their dirty work will
see through the propaganda and overthrow them. And so, they are
concerned that the public is and remains patriotic. While they wave the
flag, proclaim the glories of chauvinism, and talk of their
public-spiritedness they will clandestinely deal with the enemy if it
means profits. During the good war, WWII, secretly of course, such
eminent individuals as Henry Ford, Andrew Mellon, and John and Allen Dulles
were Nazi sympathizers, and blue-chip companies like Ford, General
Motors, DuPont, Standard Oil, International Telephone, IBM, Alcoa, the
Chase Bank, and JP Morgan, were profitably supplying Adolf Hitler's
Reich with their products and services. Well why not -- as Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman insists, the purpose of a corporation
is to amass profits for the stockholders; it has no social responsibility.

The elite are continually at work screwing the public so on any day of
the week there is evidence, if one takes the time and effort to search,
of how efficiently they operate. But, most importantly, ignore the
rhetoric, the bullshit story, meant to befool the gullible public who
usually buys it. Concentrate on their actions over time and observe how
they make a killing at the public's expense.

Current US conditions are suitable for analysis. The actions of the Bush
administration and their co-opted government allies have done a
magnificent job for their elite masters. Dubya's beneficence has
rewarded them handsomely. Investments in campaign contributions returned
dividends far in excess of what any other investment would bring. In
each instance where any elite interest was served, some cock-and-bull
story accompanied the scam. And guess who was being milked for those payoffs?

The super deluxe con of all, the swindle that has been a goldmine, a
bonanza, a golden goose, and an El Dorado all rolled up together is the
"War on Terrorism" properly renamed "The Long War." It's intended to be
an everlasting gravy train! The 9/11 terrorist attacks materialized into
that "new Pearl Harbor" that the neocons deemed necessary to expedite
their goals. Wasn't that unexpected event, looked at from their warped
perspective, most fortunate? And was it really unexpected?

Wasn't the attack really a crime? Wasn't the earlier attack on the World
Trade Center treated and resolved as such? Treating it as an act of war
rather than as a crime eliminated some anticipated problems and opened
the door for innovation.

Pending agendas that could not be handled previously could now be taken
up. Well before 9/11, regime change in Afghanistan and Iraq were on that
agenda.

The Union Oil Company, hoping since 1995 to build a pipeline across Afghanistan,
treated the government there, the Taliban, royally. But the
generous offer the company eventually made to them was not good enough.
Those Taliban bums had to go. 9/11 provided an ideal scenario for
ousting them. They were the protectors of the terrorists Bin Laden and
Al Qaeda. Although the Taliban offered to surrender Bin Laden their
offer was not accepted. War was what was wanted; war ensued; and a
former Unocal employee, Hamid Karzai, became the president of
Afghanistan. Because security in the country remains a problem the
pipeline remains a pipe dream.

Since Gulf War I the U.S. had been hoping to depose Saddam Hussein with a
pro-American strongman who would comply with its dictates, but all CIA
attempts to effect a coup were unsuccessful. A war was needed. So with
enough baloney fed to the UN, the Congress, the public -- although most of
the peoples throughout the world did not buy it -- a pre-emptive war did
the trick. But as the situation kept deteriorating and the promised
cakewalk turned into a quagmire, the propaganda lies that justified the
war were revealed.

Democracy, that old standby, then became the key to resolve the
turmoil in the Middle East and frustrate the terrorists. Wasn't that
nice? How many boobs actually believed it? Well, Uncle Sam asked for it,
encouraged it, pushed elections, attempted to fix them as it did so
successfully in the past. The electorate's overwhelming response
was so great for the "wrong" candidates that Sam's vote tampering could
not alter the popular choices.

"Democracy, democracy, democracy" repeated over and over again in
various contexts is the rhetoric. True democracy is not what is wanted.
The U.S. wants a nice compliant regime that will accede to its demands and
can effectively control its people. Any such government, irrespective of
how it accomplishes it, will be proclaimed a democracy and designated a
strong and loyal ally of the U.S. That is what Afghanistan and Iraq were
intended to become. As long as the U.S. remains in those countries and
continues its military campaign that goal will be pursued.

Historically, that is how the imperialist U.S. has acted. Nationalist
leaders who had the loyal support of their people, were acclaimed far
and wide, and willing to peaceably and fairly deal with all foreign
governments would eliminated by the U.S. if they were independent of ALL
foreign influence. The US rogues gallery included such popular leaders
as Mossadegh, Arbenz, Sukarno, Nasser, Lumumba, and Allende. Its
democratic leader list included the Shah of Iran, Suharto, Marcos, and
Pinochet -- who were subsequently routed by their own people's
uprisings -- and were never referred to again with the democratic label.

Analyzing actions rather than rhetoric applies to all governments. The
recent election in Palestine put Hamas in the driver's seat to the
consternation of the Israelis, who refuse to deal with that terrorist
organization -- an organization they supported to weaken a more formidable
opponent, Yasser Arafat and his PLO.

When Arafat eventually weakened, accepted the rhetoric of peace, and
controlled the Occupied Territories while the Israelis, in violation of
that supposed peace, expanded the settlements, the former terrorist was
lauded. But he reverted to a scoundrel when he could no longer control
his people. The claim that there is no one to make peace with will
persist as long as there are Palestinians in areas the Israelis covet
who will not abide by the onerous conditions imposed on them.
Terrorists, shmerrorists, it's all part of the rhetoric bullshit. Nobel
Prize-winner Menachem Begin was a terrorist who became a prime minister
of Israel, and so was Yitzhak Shamir. Throughout the world there are
popular and democratically-elected leaders who are designated terrorists
by imperialists frustrated by the independence of those leaders.

Don't sell those democratically-elected terrorists short. The big bully
has been weakened considerably by his ill-fated war and he may be
compelled to accept the continued presence of leaders who are now
telling him off and emphatically saying "NO" to his demands.

Do you wish to share your opinion? We invite your comments. E-mail the Editor. Please include your full name, address and phone number (the city, state/country where you reside is paramount information). When/if we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country.